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Victory for Washington school libraries

OLYMPIA - The Washington Library Association (WLA) is celebrating Governor Jay Inslee’s signing of SSB 6362 on March 21st, which added a line item to the bill allocating \$20 per student statewide specifically for library materials. The line item is being heralded as an important addition to the McCleary school funding order that the Washington State Legislature passed this past January that allocated another $1.2 billion dollars for K-12 education.

Washington Library Association 2018 Board President Craig Seasholes and Executive Director Kate Laughlin were on-hand for Governor Inslee’s signing ceremony, recognizing the effort and input that WLA put into getting this line item into the bill’s language, and were joined by educators and library advocates from across the state for the event.

Said Laughlin, “It might seem like a little thing, but getting that dedicated line on the funding bill is huge. This means that school libraries now have a place from which to negotiate in the future. Previously, they weren’t even invited to the table.”